Sleep? Not for ol' Roy

Season-opener worries Williams

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina coach Roy Williams expected to have a sleepless night Friday, saying "I'm more apprehensive than I have been in 21 years."

He already knew he would be missing starters Tyler Hansbrough and Marcus Ginyard, plus reserve Mike Copeland, when his top-ranked team opens the season against Penn today.

Now he does not know how much backup guard Bobby Frasor, who sprained his left ankle Monday but returned to practice Friday afternoon, will be able to contribute when the Tar Heels open the season against Penn today.

"I'm 'concerned' -- you choose any word you want to right there because it's really been an unsettled preseason," Williams said before practice. "You've heard me say our 8, 9 and 10 [guys] are a lot better than everybody else's 8, 9 and 10. Well, when I walk out there at practice Wednesday and I don't have Tyler and I don't have Marcus and I don't have Bobby and I don't have Cope, that's four of our five seniors.

"So we spend the whole spring, summer and fall saying we want to speed up the tempo, we want to play faster, we want to make more possessions in the game, and all of a sudden we don't have the same depth that we had."

Even if Frasor, one of the team's top defenders, is limited, Carolina's injuries shouldn't make a huge difference against Penn, picked to finish second in the Ivy League preseason poll but a team still not as fast or talented as a depleted UNC team should be.

But there could be a concern against Kentucky, which UNC plays in Chapel Hill on Tuesday. Much will depend on how many seniors remain on the end of the bench in suits.

Ginyard and Copeland are sidelined until at least next month as they continue to rehabilitate from foot and knee surgery, respectively.

Meanwhile, Williams said Hansbrough, who hasn't practiced for more than two weeks because of a "stress reaction" in his right shin, has been limited to swimming pool exercises, a punching bag, and some weight room workouts. "He's done a lot of stuff, cardiovascular, but we haven't allowed him to do anything that's pounding on his leg,'' Williams said. "... We're just really trying to be conservative at this point."

Williams was thinking about allowing Hansbrough to shoot jump shots in Friday's practice.

But what's the ultimate factor in giving the team's leading scorer and rebounder the green light to return?

"When everybody involved feels comfortable that everything is going to be fine -- that's his family, the medical people here, me, Tyler,'' said Williams, who did not reveal the results of a Wednesday MRI exam.

One of two freshmen forwards -- Tyler Zeller or Ed Davis -- will start in place of Hansbrough. Senior Danny Green will make his second career start, in place of Ginyard. If Frasor is limited, wing Will Graves might get more minutes.

UNC has been bitten by the injury bug before; last season, point guard Ty Lawson missed seven games with various ankle injuries, Frasor missed most of the season because of knee surgery, Ginyard was bothered by nagging foot injuries, and forward Deon Thompson hyperextended his knee and had a sore back, just to name a few.

So, junior Wayne Ellington said, the team knows how to play through adversity.

Said Williams: "Injuries, there's no good time. But if it happens during the season, at least you've got through the whole preseason and got your stuff in. Right now, it's been hard for us ... because we have some things I would have had in for a week to 10 days and worked on quite a bit and used in two exhibition games that we don't even have in right now. But then again, it's better to have them now than during the season when they miss more games."